Celtic Insurance stops taking applications..

Celtic Insurance company has stopped taking applications on the individual market until the October 1, beginning of the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment. Celtic was formed in Chicago in 1978. In 2008, Celtic was acquired my Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC). Celtic has been a quality provider of health insurance for many years. They have a unique operating model, where as they designed the plan to control their cost to keep plans affordable. The key feature with Celtic is they have had a limit of two doctor visits per year per person on the policy. This is a key feature as it kept people from abusing the system. About a year ago they added a feature that would give you an option of four visits per year. They always had strong coverage on the hospitalization side with lower out of pocket maximums than most carriers.

With the Obamacare law upcoming, many carriers have pulled out of the market. Some have said they were going to operate in the insurance exchange, some have said they would not operate in the exchange. Yesterday, AETNA informed its home state of Connecticut that it would not participate in their exchange. They also told California the same.

Within the last two months Medical Mutual has pulled out of South Carolina, Indiana, South Carolina and Georgia. They said to concentrate on their home State of Ohio.

Many States have very few providers in their exchanges so far. Most seem to have three or less. I think the State of Washington has one carrier.

This most recent move by Celtic, is one that we have not seen yet. I do not know what is going to happen with this law, but it is going to keep you on your toes that is for sure.